Post by Vegan on Dec 4, 2012 14:15:04 GMT

One of the wild counterparts considered to be one of the ancestors of domesticated sheep.

Domestic sheep:

Wool is either a by product of the meat industry, or a specifically farmed thing. Either way, sheep suffer. Even sheep farmed for their wool end up on the table. When the growing of the wool declines and is not enough to meet what the farmer wants. Off to slaughter the sheep goes. Often, many are shipped overseas for slaughter.

Museling[/b]

Common in Australian wool farming is museling (primarily on marino lambs); a surgical removal of wool bearing skin from around the buttocks. It is claimed it is to prevent flystrike.

^^^ Museling. Looks comfortable, doesn't it? ¬¬

A basic, but shocking description of how it is done:

During mulesing, lambs are thrown onto their backs and have their legs restrained while the skin and wool around their backsides is carved away with metal shears to expose the flesh. At the same time, their tails are often cut off too. The procedure is tantamount to partially skinning the animals alive without anaesthetics and is done to cause smooth, scarred skin where hair will not grow and will not allow ‘flystrike’ to happen around the back end of the sheep.

Shearing

Shearing is an uncomfortable process for both sheep and shearer (standing in awkward positions). The above image shows a typical shearing process, however, positions may vary depending on the shearer. Often the skin is nicked/cut in this process and not treated after. In the UK, our climate is all over the place, yet the sheep are shorn at a certain time within the year, despite the fact that we might be having a really cold spell or not.

Naturally, in the wild, the wild counterparts grow enough to keep warm in the colder months, and shed enough to keep cool in the summer months. We have bred and selectively bred sheep so far that they grow a ridiculous amount of fur/hair to meet our wants for wool. This is not natural. Not only does it lead us to use the excuse of they 'need shearing' to defend the wool industry, it shows our gross negligence for their welfare and natural evolution.

How to Avoid Wool

Avoid products that contain wool. Read labels on clothing. Also, another by product of the wool is lanolin. Which is basically the waxy substance that helps waterproof sheep fur/hair.

It is commonly found in beauty products and hair care products. So be sure to keep an eye out for it in the ingredients list. In the UK, Co-Op own brand shampoos/conditioners etc carry the BUAV logo (non animal tested):

and state that the products do not contain animal products. So those are safe. As are most of the Original Source products which carry the vegan society logo on.

www.originalsource.co.uk/ - is the original source website. Beware though, some of their shampoos and conditioners, etc contain honey. To be sure, always read ingredients and look for the vegan society logo:

So, for sheep's sake, avoid wool!

And lamb/mutton/other variations of flesh from their body, too, of course.

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